Chapter 1

      Good thing he was at Ft. Lukman, Lieutenant Liam Corland thought. At any other military facility, he would never feel comfortable walking calmly with his dog, Chase, across the nearly empty grounds, in his casual camo uniform, later in the morning than he should be reporting for duty. In fact, he wouldn’t feel comfortable working at any other military facility, period.

      But this was where Alpha Force was stationed. He had just left his apartment in the bachelor officers’ quarters. Now he headed toward the building across the compound that contained so many important functions—mainly laboratory, cover dog kennel and offices, including his own.

      Sure, he should have started his important assignment of this day an hour ago, so he didn’t want to make his lateness too obvious. He avoided the most used pathways, hustling along behind buildings occupied by units other than Alpha Force. Chase and he would be picked up on security cameras when they sneaked in through a back door of the appropriate building, but no one would do anything about it, since they belonged there. Besides, he had a good excuse, and he probably wasn’t the only one who slept in a bit. Not that he had gotten much sleep anyway.

      There had been a full moon last night. He had shifted, of course—pretty much on his own terms, thanks to Alpha Force.

      And thanks also to the help of his aide, Sergeant Denny Orringer, who now waited for him in the kennel and lab building. Covering for him, if necessary.

      He’d talked to Denny earlier, and—

      There. Chase and he had reached the back of that building, near the doors leading into the kennel area. The shapeshifters’ cover dogs like Chase were kept there frequently, along with other dogs that helped this military base look like it had a lot of well-trained canines living here all the time.

      Of course Alpha Force members who had cover dogs also kept them with them a lot as well, both at Ft. Lukman and when they were traveling—as long as there were some living here, too, to keep up appearances.

      Liam, a tech expert, used the key card he had programmed himself to open the back door. He slipped in and enclosed Chase in one of several fenced areas, joining three dogs that resembled him.

      Of course, Chase looked wolfen, resembling Liam himself while he was shifted...

      “See you later, guy,” Liam whispered to his canine companion, who was already being greeted by his fellows.

      Heading for the stairway down to the most important floor of the building, which contained offices and the laboratories where the very special Alpha Force elixir was brewed, Liam walked slowly, figuring he was likely to run into someone else dressed like him.

      But fortunately, he saw no one—so no one saw him, either, as he again used a key card to open a door, this time to the stairs.

      He heard raised voices from down the hall when he slipped carefully into his own office. They sounded excited. With his special senses, even when he was in human form, he could easily have eavesdropped had he wanted to.

      But what he wanted was to get to work.

      First, though, he shot a quick text message to Denny to let him know where he was. Then he booted up his computer, a highly sophisticated desktop that was the epitome of today’s technology.

      A good thing, since it was used for such a critical purpose.

      His phone made a text ping. Denny was probably just acknowledging what Liam had sent. He’d check it later.

      A sudden urge for a cup of coffee shot through Liam but he ignored it. He’d get one later when he went to the meeting, but right now he needed to check his usual social media and other sources.

      His job at the moment? Look for any and all mentions online of people claiming to have seen shapeshifters last night, in this area first of all, then other locales in this country and the world where Alpha Force members were stationed. And, finally, everywhere else.

      He’d undoubtedly find some mentions. Perhaps a lot. He always did, and most appeared to come from people who loved what they considered paranormal—fiction lovers who wanted to see if others, unlike them, had spotted shifters during a night of a full moon. They were easy to deal with.

      But Liam needed to deal with the reality of those who didn’t have the kinds of backgrounds to have been introduced to Alpha Force and what it did, but had caught glimpses of possible Alpha Force shifters on that night of the full moon—or claimed to.

      Liam had to find their posts, then kid around online. Make them look foolish to the rest of the world, and maybe even to themselves.

      That was one of the things Liam, vying, at least in his mind, for tech champion of the universe, did best. But he wasn’t a geek. Oh, no. He loved being a member of the military. Of Alpha Force. He both looked and acted the part.

      Except at the computer.

      Using one of his many false identities, he logged on to a favorite social media site—and gasped. “No!” he exclaimed aloud.

      He read the post more carefully, then jumped onto several other sites—and got the same results.

      Existence of a strange military unit of shapeshifters was mentioned more than once on this day after a night of a full moon. That wasn’t unusual.

      But claims of damage, destruction—and injuries to real people? The extent of what was described on so many sites was horrific.

      And did not bode well at all for Liam’s vision of shifters’ acceptance someday by other people. Those lies were more of the reality now, though.

      “I need to let the others know.” Liam was barely aware he was talking aloud. He picked up his phone, then realized this was critical enough that he wanted to tell his superiors in person. One in particular—Major Drew Connell, their commanding officer who had begun Alpha Force and remained in charge.

      Drew’s office was on the opposite side of this floor, past the lab areas, and Liam immediately headed there. If he hadn’t had this important assignment, that was where he would have gone first, since nearly all Alpha Force members present on the base attended informal meetings in Drew’s office the morning after a night of a full moon. Liam would have headed there eventually anyway to let the others know what he found.

      But